When he had just been born, the warlord Li Keyong the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi), which included the area, happened to be on a hunt and went near the house.
He initially favored drinking, but after Li Keyong gave him a mild rebuke, no longer drank for the rest of his life.
[3] The first campaign in which historical sources described Li Sizhao as himself leading an army was in 897, when Li Keyong's ally Wang Ke the military governor of Huguo Circuit (護國, headquartered in modern Yuncheng, Shanxi) was attacked by his cousin Wang Gong the military governor of Baoyi Circuit (保義, headquartered in modern Sanmenxia, Henan), who was allied with Li Keyong's archenemy Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern Kaifeng, Henan).
The Xuanwu generals Zhang Cunjing (張存敬) and Yang Shihou were initially able to defeat Wang Ke and put Huguo's capital Hezhong Municipality (河中) under siege, but Li Sizhao was able to then defeat the Baoyi forces at Yishi (猗氏) and then at Zhangdian (張店, both in modern Yuncheng) and lift the siege on Hezhong.
However, they were defeated by Zhu's general Ge Congzhou, who subsequently cut off their escape path back into the Taihang.
However, Li Keyong subsequently diverted Li Sizhao to try to aid Luo Shaowei the military governor of Weibo Circuit (魏博, headquartered in modern Handan), who was then under attack from Liu Rengong the military governor of Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing).
However, as Liu was subsequently repelled by the Xuanwu generals Ge Congzhou and He Delun (賀德倫) (as Luo also requested aid from Zhu) before Li Sizhao could arrive in Weibo territory, Luo again cut off relations with Hedong, and Li Sizhao withdrew.
Li Keyong commissioned Meng Qian (孟遷) as the acting military governor of Zhaoyi Circuit (昭義, headquartered at Lu Prefecture).
[5] In fall 900, Zhu himself launched a major attack on Chengde and Yiwu Circuit (義武, headquartered in modern Baoding, Hebei), whose military governor Wang Gao was an ally of Li Keyong's.
The Yiwu soldiers subsequently supported Wang Chuzhi to take over the circuit and sue for peace with Xuanwu by submitting to Zhu.
Later in the year, Li Keyong did send Li Sizhao and Zhou to capture Xi (隰州) and Ci (慈州, both in modern Linfen, Shanxi, not the same prefecture as the one east of the Taihang Mountains) Prefectures, which had become under Zhu's control when Zhu conquered Huguo earlier in 901.
[5] Later in 901, the powerful eunuchs at the Tang imperial court at Chang'an, believing that then-reigning Emperor Zhaozong of Tang and the chancellor Cui Yin were able to slaughter them, forcibly seized Emperor Zhaozong and took him to Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi), then reigned by the eunuchs' ally Li Maozhen.
[5] Subsequent battles in spring 902 in which Li Sizhao and Zhou engaged Shi and Zhu's nephew Zhu Youning (朱友寧), however, could not produce conclusive Hedong victories, and Shi was eventually able to defeat Li Sizhao and Zhou at Pu County (蒲縣, in modern Linfen).
Even though Hedong forces were in fact then able to further recapture Ci, Xi, and Fen (汾州, in modern Linfen), it was said that Li Keyong did not dare to again engage Zhu for several years.
The other troops were outraged by this slaughter, and the officer Shi Renyu (史仁遇) rebelled and occupied Gaotang (高唐, in modern Liaocheng, Shandong), seeking aid from Li Keyong and Liu Shouwen.
Li Keyong, along with Li Maozhen (whose territory became Qi), Yang Wo the military governor of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu) (whose territory became Wu), and Wang Jian the military governor of Xichuan Circuit (西川, headquartered in modern Chengdu, Sichuan) (whose territory became Former Shu), refused to recognize the Later Liang emperor, and thereafter was effectively the ruler of his own state of Jin (as he had been previously created the Prince of Jin by Emperor Zhaozong).
Shortly thereafter, the Later Liang emperor sent the general Kang Huaizhen (康懷貞) to put Lu Prefecture under siege.
By spring 908, with Li Keyong having fallen gravely ill, Zhou withdrew to Luanliu (亂柳, in modern Changzhi).
Tell Dewei this for me: if the siege on Lu cannot be lifted, I would not be able to close my eyes even in death.Li Keyong then died, and Li Cunxu succeeded him as the Prince of Jin.
Eventually, Emperor Taizu, believing that Lu Prefecture would fall anyway soon without aid (as Zhou Dewei had by that point withdrawn back to Taiyuan, to pay tribute to the new prince), left the siege, and further had his general Liu Zhijun return to the Qi front, where Liu had been stationed.
He put Ding Hui in nominal command of the operation, while he himself, Zhou, and Li Siyuan led the main attacks against the Later Liang centipede encampment.
In the aftermaths of the siege, it was said that Lu had lost over half of its population due to cold and hunger, and the economy had collapsed.
Li Sizhao, in response, encouraged farming and caring for silkworms, and lessened the tax burden on the people.
[11] In 916, while Li Cunxu was in a standoff with the Later Liang general Liu Xun at Wei Prefecture (魏州, Weibo's capital, which had by that point fallen to Jin), the Later Liang general Wang Tan (王檀) launched a surprise attack on Taiyuan, which was caught without preparation and nearly fell, escaping that fate only due to the effort of the retired officer An Jinquan (安金全), who commanded a group of retired officers' family members in defending the city.
Zhang sought aid from the Khitan's Emperor Taizu (Yelü Abaoji), who quickly advanced into Jin's Lulong Circuit.
Li Cunxu himself headed north to engage the Khitan emperor, but his army, terrified at the Khitan cavalry strength, had low morale, and Li Cunxu considered, pursuant to some officers' request, lifting the siege on Zhao's capital Zhen Prefecture (鎮州) and withdrawing.
Under his final order, the Zhaoyi soldiers at the siege remained under the command of his secretary Ren Huan, and the Zhao army did not find out about Li Sizhao's death.